Global Reach for Justice…2009

Justice, what is it? Justice simply put is righting wrongs. We all have issues we think are wrong and need to be righted, and many of them we would not all agree on, but I think we can agree on some. Its not right when you see kids who live in such abject poverty they don’t have shoes. Going shoeless is very bad for their health, cuts on the feet, bacteria in the water, worms, are all things that cause disease in children as a result of no footwear.

I think we can all agree that the bloated bellies and skeletal bodies of families and especially children who experience malnutrition is not right. Its not enough just to have something to eat what you eat must have nutritional value or it fills your belly, but starves your body.

I think we can all agree that the buying and selling of human beings is wrong, and needs to be made right. We have a bigger issue of human trafficking today around the world, greater than ever in history. Humans, especially children bought and sold for inhumane work, and worst of all prostitution, sex trafficking.

I think we can agree that genocide is wrong, and yes it is still happening in places around the world, and nations are still recovering from it.

We can agree that lack of health care in third world nations, the lack of community development, and education, causing hopelessness and despair as well as death, from sicknesses that are easily cured if the medicine is available, is not right.

Its not right, that the very water that should be giving life to a community is what is killing it. Its not right that orphaned children are roaming streets with an almost certain future of destruction and death. Children caring for children or themselves, just to survive.

We could all make political statements at this point. Like well if they hadn’t done this, or if they would stop that. We use the word “they” to keep “them” distant from “Us” so we don’t feel responsible.

Its Not right, Its not Right……ITS NOT RIGHT!

I have a personal feeling of responsibility for people in these situations because I’m a Christian, and I know God loves everyone, and He wants everyone to experience His love. If we took time to really look at the life of Jesus we would see how practical and compassionate He truly is. We should be a reflection of that.

Proverbs 31:8-9 (MSG)
8-9 “Speak up for the people who have no voice,
for the rights of all the down-and-outers.
Speak out for justice!
Stand up for the poor and destitute!”

Matthew 25:34-40 (MSG)
34-36″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

37-40″Then those ’sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

The Bible Clearly spells out for us our mission on this earth. To share the Love of Jesus, The Love of God, in practical ways, with those who so desperately need His message and His action. To long we have spoken and not acted.

This year we are bringing Justice in the ways we are able in the following places. Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Cambodia. Doing leadership conferences, and Medical Clinics, building an educational facility, and distributing Bibles, feeding the hungry, and helping rescue girls out of forced prostitution. We are doing evangelistic concerts sharing hope, love, and Joy through Jesus, and resourcing Hope centers for orphans we’ve already built, as well as working with an after care program for girls who have been rescued from the Sex Trade.

We are committed to righting wrongs, to loving people, to bringing change to the world. We can’t do everything, but we can do something, and what we will never do, is nothing.

Our partners are…
www.crisisaid.org
www.hagarproject.org/
www.watoto.com/
www.cambodiaoutreach.org

If you would like to be a part of helping right wrongs, by being a part of this Global reach for Justice, Please contact me @ david.gadberry@harvestokc.com, or call 405 478 7373

Partner with us in this global reach for Justice.

please visit my Face book page and look under my videos, will give you a greater understanding.  You can also find the video on my myspace page, and at www.harvestokc.com under global reach.

thanks
David

President Barak Obama

This is a great day. A day that we will not soon forget. As President Obama is making his speech, my thoughts go to Martin Luther King Jr. his fight, his dream, his sacrifice, his and many other African American and Caucasian American efforts have come to fruition in the embodiment of our 44th president. Its time now for the country to come behind him, to support, to pray, to honor his role in our nations History. I haven’t and don’t agree with every policy or plan he has laid forth, but He is my president and I honor him. What a remarkable day in our history. Let’s cross lines and find places of agreement, and lets thank God for His grace on us. Grab the hand of the people around and lets partner to help each other, and people around the world

David

The Obama Speech…

Wow, what a great speech.  Although I don’t agree with everything he said, i also didn’t disagree with everything he said.  One thing I know is Barak Obama is an inspirational communicator and when you watched the speech and realize that 45 years ago Dr. King gave his “dream” speech the moment became a piece of history.

Whatever way you go politically, you can’t deny his ability to communicate, or the historical context of his campaign.

Very Interesting!

David

Guest Blogger….Nicoli Newsome…”Problems becoming Opportunitites”

It is hard to put into words what I am getting from this trip.  I am seeing a church that takes problems and turns them into opportunities.  Something as simple as creating an english and computer skills class, has brought many souls to Christ.  My prayer is that I come back seeing, that God has given us the solution to the problems around us, if we just trust in Him, and let go of personal agendas.

Love Nicoli

Second day in Kampuchea (cambodia)

Our second day in Phnom Pehn, has begun with a bang. Before I share about today, I want to recap yesterday. One thing I love about working with teams is to watch different team members grow and develop, and stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones. The great thing about harvest teams though, is they all seem to be consummate pro’s when it comes to relationship. They all act as if they have never met a stranger. It is so easy to love harvest people, but I wish everyone had the opportunity to see how our culture truly translates everywhere we go.

We believe in servant leadership, and it shows when we work in these type of settings. We believe that relationship with Christ and relationship with other believers and even those who do not know Christ yet, are very important. This team of Andrew, Allison, Amy, Kelsi, Shane, Jennifer, Jenna, Nicoli, Terry, Travis, Jordan, Kerri, Kelly R., Kelly K, Hannah, and Autumn simply put, are a collection of superstars. They are flexible, inspiring, compassionate and caring people. I respect each of them deeply; I also respect those responsible for sending them. Family, friends, loved ones and people inspired about changing the world. You would be so proud if you could see them in action.

Yesterday, we connected with our friends at new life church and jumped right in to ministry. We Toured their facility, and ministry offices and began to interact with students, with teachers, with church staff and with people just wanting to learn English. Different ones of the team had the opportunity to use their gifts and skills to help in areas that were a good fit. Travis, you guessed it, is doing his best to get all the “IT” kinks out of their system; yes it’s an issue everywhere. Jenna was able to help in the admin offices of the “at risk kids dept.” With her knowledge she was able to do some things in 30 minutes that will literally save them 100’s of hours over the long haul. Shane had the wonderful opportunity of traveling into the village with a couple of pastors from “New Life.” A couple of years ago they planted a church in this village. The village is with all handicap people. They were a part of the Khmer Rouge and in the process of the government telling them to lay down their arms, and giving them amnesty, they became outcast, banded together and live in this village. New life has gone there and started a church and now has a great work there. Shane was able to go, and do a leadership session with the leaders and then a church service in the afternoon. His testimony of the stories when he returned had us all in tears, as he had an awakening and God used him to touch others. Terry and Nicoli went to one of the pastor’s homes and did some work, that was needed, they were having issues with flooding and we were able to solve a major problem for them with minor difficulty and little money. It is amazing how far, our knowledge, our money, and our skill sets will go in this culture. We are able to help them and then educate them on how to continue that new skill. They were having flooding issues around their septic tank, with a bit of money and effort Andrew, Nicoli, and Terry were able to get a sump pump, hose, and solve their problem. Then educate them on things that need to be done to keep the problem from recurring. They also trimmed back some trees, “had to create their tools.” But did a great job.

Shane, Kelsi, and Jenna, set in a “youth party” meeting which is their major outreach and weekly bridge from the English classes to the church. They prepared for our team to do it, which is right down their ally and will be a lot of fun.

The rest of the team and many of the people already mentioned were a part of the “joy club” which is basically like a weekly vbs for street kids. They literally wash their feet clean up cuts, play with the kids, and make sure they are cared for with certain supplies and ministered to with music and teaching. No worries, they took every sanitary precaution, realizing, many of these kids are hiv positive, or have some type of physical problem.

We wrapped up the day with dinner with Pastor Jesse and Soar, and their Baby Girl Jessica. He spoke to us about the value of what we are doing, it was a great moment. We ate lunch and had a great cultural experience with Pastor Pisit and his wife Sei ha.

Then we had a team meeting to prepare for today. We are teaching English classes all day long. This is a great contribution to society and is also the major outreach to getting people into a relationship with Christ and the church. Our team put together a dynamic, interactive program, that develops basic English language skills and tons of great relationship, and then we invite them to come to the youth party with us Saturday night, this process is truly genius.

We will eat lunch with all the regular English teachers and develop relationship with them, as well as hear their testimonies and how they came to faith. Many of which were saved through this process. We are having the time of our lives, and the people of Cambodia are getting deeply engrained in our hearts. It is so incredible to see the faith of the Christians of this country and their dedication.

As the day continues, we will continue to teach English, some of the team will run for supplies for another ministry opportunity, and a small team of four will be going with the outreach team to minister to children in the slums. Tonight we will eat at the dorms, 30 men, and 30 women. This is a place they allow people to live, if they commit to come to church. Many of these people are orphans, once they reach the age of 18 they are made to leave the orphanage, so they literally have no place to go, and need help learning how to take care of themselves etc. So this is a ministry they have begun. We are having dinner with them tonight to fellowship and witness, and invite them to the “youth party.”

Then we start again tomorrow. I will be introducing guest bloggers to write some experiences they’ve had to give you a personal look at the affect of being in this atmosphere.

Again, let me say thanks for helping us, to help them.

David.

We’re on our way…

Well, one of our teams is already at the airport and preparing to leave for san fransisco, we will be leaving for the airport in about an hour.  Then is the big hop from the US to Cambodia.  We are truly prepared and believing that God is going to use us to help those who need it, and to share His love with those who need Him.

This next two weeks will a fast paced ministry experience, with exposure to a great people, and to great need.  Pray for us, as we attempt to serve the people of Cambodia, and most importantly continue our efforts to bring hope to the forgotten children.  We are on a crash course with human trafficking and it is our desire to do everything we can to stop it!

Be watching the blogs I will give daily updates when possible. (depending on internet access).  could be a problem in the province.

God Bless You all
David

Be an abolitionist
Stop human trafficking

What it looks like to help someone….

I havent written in so long…I’ve been very busy in a good way.  I love what I do.  The fact that i get the opportunity to work for God and His church every day is incredible to me.  I am still in awe of it.  I love the feeling that I am right where I am supposed to be.  My wife Janae told me the other day how she loved walking into the classroom every day of the school year, and even when its tough she loves it, because its what God created her for.

There is no feeling in the world like knowing your doing what you were created to do.  Wow!  God is so good.

I was thinking the other day, if  you want to know what it looks like to help someone you should have been at our Royal Family Kids Camp.  Every year, for the last three anyway, we have had the priviledge of inviting several foster kids to enjoy a great camp absolutely free.  We had right at 80 campers this year.  This is no ordinary camp, thats for sure.  This camp is made specifically to cause the campers to feel like they are royalty.

All the campers here, are from foster care, so they have either been abused or neglected, so they come with all kinds of needs and issues.  We love them.  We love everything about them.  They are wonderful kids, with positive futures.  We registered them at one of our campuses and then put them on limo buses and took them on a 30 minute ride over to another campus, where all the counselors and volunteers were waiting with signs with their name on it welcoming them to camp.  As they come off the bus, still reeling from the fact that they were riding in a limo, their faces light up, as they see the smiling faces of people who are meeting them for the first time and accepting them, and treating them as if they are princes and princesses.

At the camp, we have two sets of volunteers we call grandma and grandpa, and aunts and uncles, these people love the kids and connect with them by writing encouraging notes to them all through the camp.  (this helps these kids embrace the family construct which they have learned not to trust).

We took them on a trip to the zoo, and the zoological society scholarshipped everyone for the day.  It was a great time and a great blessing.  We had swim times in our Jr.  Olympic size swimming pool, and a full on Carnival in our Gym.

They rode horses, went to chapel services, and had an all around blast.  There is one thing we love to do….we throw them a birthday party, I mean the best one you have ever seen, heard of, or even thought about.  Each camper received a  cake and presents for their b-day. (i don’t have time to explain all the reasons this is so important, but you can imagine).  We had a whole host of Disney type charecters who performed and interacted with the campers, it was incredible!

Then we had a special day for the girls and for the boys.  It culminated in a gala for the girls, where they dressed up in formals, and had a fine dining experience.  They were escorted in on the red carpet in fashion show style, all given a tierra and a friendship bracelet.  They enjoyed this so much, because they had etiquette classes earlier in the day, and were getting to practice what they had learned.  It was truly beautiful, and they brimmed with confidence and joy.

The boys, had what we called, “knights of the king”  bonfire.  It was a great boyhood memory.  They were gathered around the bonfire with painted faces grunting and yelling, and getting excited about being a knight for the king.  “A knight is loyal.”  They would say.  “I knight rights wrongs!”  they would yell.  It ended with the leader standing in front of the bonfire and asking them to accept the challenge to be a knight for the king.  He said, “who will accept this challenge.”  A wonderful thing happened, the boys spontaneously errupted in unified chorus, “I’ll be a knight for the King!”  It was a great moment.

The last thing we did and do every year, is what we call the “tree ceremony.”  We have two healthy trees that are growing now and we just added our third.  These trees are representative of hope.  We have the counselors set down with their campers.  Our ratio is one counselor to two campers, this is what makes the camp effective.  They talk about past bad memories, and they tell them to put them on a piece of paper just between them and God, and we all gather around the hole thats been dug for the planting of the new tree.  We say this week you have had the chance to make some new positive memories, and this an opportunity for you to say I am burying these past negative memories and they will not hold me back.  Then we allow them all to bring their notes and throw them in the hole.  Then we plant the tree atop the old memories, and we send them home with a picture book, of all the fun memories they had at camp.  It may not sound like a big deal to you, but it is to them.  We had one little girl who came to camp for the second time.  Her counselor noticed she did not have a note.  She asked her where her note was, and the little girl responded, I don’t need to do it this year, I buried my negative past last year, I don’t need to do it again.  Thats called forgiveness, thats powerful.

So if you want to see what it looks like to help someone, look at this.  80 campers and over 150 volunteers, and our church and many individuals and busniesses caring enough to treat some unfortunate kids like they’re worthy to be treated.

Its a beautiful thing, you gotta love it.  Foster care is a real issue in our nation, abuse and neglect are serious problems.  I wonder if there is any practical, non political, straightforward strategy to help the dhs, foster parents, group homes, and proactive parenting skills training or anything like that, in either Obama’s or McCains plans for the nation.  I’m going to research it, or you could tell me if you know, something needs to be done.

David

Hillary Clinton….true political persistence

Senator Clinton and I have very little agreement on any political view point, but I have to say, i’m getting a kick out of her persistence.  She is a fighter and whatever your political leanings you have to hand it to her, for just not giving up.  Its a great quality in a leader.  Someone who will push, and stand, and cast vision, and not lose heart no matter what.

I believe that if Obama was not the media darling that he is, and if the clintons didn’t have to reap what they have sown in the past, this election would be quite a different story to this point.  The tenacity that she has shown is truly what it takes to be a winner in the long run.  Just don’t ever give up.

Many have said, she is waisting money and time and creating conflict and division in the party by not giving up, but for whatever its worth, it has impressed me.  Enough to vote for her? No, probably not, but I would pick her over obama any day of the week.

Persistence, its a big deal.

 

David

Do I want to wait in the emergency room for a year and a half?

Well, this seems to be one of the more peculiar years in a presidential race history.  I find it all very interesting, and hope everything turns out in the best interest of our country.  I have no desire through this blog to endorse a candidate or try to persuade anyone based on my own political passions.  I just had a thought the other day that was worth voicing.

I’m sure you have heard about the FEMA Trailer fiasco on the southern coast.  After Hurricane Catrina and all the damage, one of the solutions was to house people in trailers so they could come back home and pull their lives back together.  So many were just leaving and staying gone, which would have been my course of action.  Seeing that nothing major has changed has only solidified my position on that.  By the way, when it happened we opened our facility and took several families from new orleans in for about six months, so we have some first hand experience with the situation.

First we all know how long it took for help to come in the first place, which is rather frightening for everyone in the united states.  Do I believe the slow response was racially motivated? No.  Do I believe it was all Gearge Bushes Fault?  No.  I believe it was poor planning on the Mayor, Govener and federal Government part, of which our president is a part.  Not to mention the local corruption.

The bottom line is that is what beuracracy gets us.  Slow response times, bad decisions, complicated issues.  There is nothing simple about it.

Now, back to the trailers.  These trailers were mass produced to house as many people as they could while things are being rebuilt.  A year and half ago, a report came out, where many of the people in these trailers were complaining that they and their children were getting sick, and having headaches, and they thought it was because of the trailers.  Now that sounds far fetched, and I can see someone saying, “no, how could it be the trailers?’  but recently a year and half later, they send a specialist in and find that the way the trailer were made, and i cant remember at the moment what element it was that caused the problem but something in the construction of those trailers was making people sick, and “now, we have to get all these people out of the trailers and get them another place to stay.”  35,000 trailers by the way.

So what’s my point exactly?  And how does it relate to the election or politics.  Here is how, we need to know the policies of the people running.  We are naive when we think the President, and I mean any president, is making all the decisions, and influencing all the policy.  There are three branches of Government, and they all inform our lives.

So we need to know what the candidates think about specific things and do we agree?  So, still, how does that relate to this.  We have big government candidates.  People who want to socialize health care, which a little research of nations who have it will enlighten us to the enormous problems with it.  My point is, do we want the system that took so long to respond to Katrina, and then took so long to respond to their own mistake, with the trailers, and still have not created a good solution in New Orleans and the coast, do we want that system to be our health care system.

Do I believe that everyone should have health care available to them?  Yes.  Do I believe that the corruption in the health care system, and the insurance companies, and the legal system should be addressed and dealt with because of their appearent unholy allience held together by greed?  Yes.

I believe there are ways to deal with this and I believe that everyone should have access to health care, and there are ways for the govt to help make that happen.

Lets be honest with ourselves however and look at the operations of many things the government takes on versus the private sector and as far as being successful is concerned there is no comparison.  Lets be careful that in our compassion we come up with the best solutions, and beuricratic, govermnet controlled, government being the answer to all lives problems, has never, will never, and can never work effectively.

Just some thoughts I’m having.  There is something to like and something to hate with every candidate, thats why we should base our decisions on principles, values, and Record.  Things that are fact, and final.  What people say can and will change in the course of political battle, that is the nature of the beast.

I have interest in what the candidates think about injustice, and how they propose to change things, and so far, I haven’t heard anything new, or anything at all.  We need to help others and we need to provide for those who need provisions, while empowering them to learn to provide for themselves.  There are organizations that can do this, and are, but where do our candidates stand really?

So Just think Long and hard, not with the passion of personality, or the enflamed partisan view point, but with our brains and our hearts, and in my case much prayer, research and consideration, and remember there is more to vote for than the president.  Lets make the goverment take responsabillity but not be our answer for everything.

David

We can learn from anyone especially our kids…

Great day yesterday….very productive. I had the privilege to attend open house at my daughter Sydney’s school. She is in first great and very smart by the way. She really is a brilliant child. Sweet, Kind, sharp, funny, and very expressive. It was good to observe her element. We see our kids in our element all the time, but do you ever stop to just watch them around their peers, and at their school.

We looked through all her papers, and we did a math center together, then she read me a wonderful story about the friendship between a boy and his pet. She also reads well. Am I bragging to much? You’ll get your turn. I was truly blessed by her for an entirely different reason.

As we walked through the halls, different kids would say, “hey Sydney”, “how ya doing Sydney?” and they were all very enthusiastic about saying hello to her. At one point i was talking to the school counselor a friend of mine, and as we stood there talking a young Hispanic girl came up and hugged Sydney around the neck and the whole family said hello to Sydney. The counselor said to me, “did you see what just happened there?” I said yeah, they said hi to Sydney, He said, you have to understand this is who Sydney is. She befriends everyone, especially the kids who have obstacles to deal with. This particular girl speaks very broken English and her family as well.

He said Sydney really connects and cares about people, and doesn’t let any barrier keep her from connecting.

This gives me pride. I love people, I love to be around people, I love to deal with people issues, its what I do. However i have to admit, sometimes when there are barriers, I find it easier to move on then take the time to cross them.

One more thing she showed me, was her “I have a dream” paper.  They did a section on Martin Luther King Jr.  She was very artistic and her coloring exquisite of cours…”here i go again,” but what she wrote was the most important.  She wrote…”My dream for the world, is to love God, and everybody everyday,” and “My dream for our country, is no war, and no more arguing.”

I think if will listen, we might learn something.

Lets all take it from Sydney and develop relationship beyond any barriers. I think it would make for a better world….

What do you think?……..